Enhanced Catalytic Activity of Chlorobenzene Oxidation by InxCo1Oy Nanocomposites

To develop and design highly efficient composite oxide nanoparticles for the combustion of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs), a series of Co 3 O 4 /In 2 O 3 catalysts were synthesized and tested for the catalytic oxidation of chlorobenzene (CB) as a typical example for CVOCs. The catalytic performance of as-prepared samples manifested that In x Co 1 O y nanorods catalysts with an appropriate proportion of In/Co exhibited superior catalytic activity better than that of pure Co 3 O 4 nanorods, indicating that the strong interactions between cobalt oxide and indium oxide assisted the degradation of CB. To understand the synergistic mechanism, a series of experimental characterization have been employed to explore the physicochemical properties of the catalysts. The result indicates that the introduction of In 2 O 3 increases the Co 3+ contents and the mobility of surface oxygen species, which synergistically contribute to the degradation process of chlorobenzene. Furthermore, the intermediates that appeared in the process of CB degradation on the In 3 Co 1 O y catalyst have been monitored by in situ DRIFTS. The detailed reaction mechanism is established by the analysis of the intermediates. Graphical Abstract